Sunday, July 27, 2008

Recently, we received a set of photos from the nice older couple we lived with for many years. Seems that they got together with another couple and went for a 4-day charter over in Sitka. While things were not quite as advertised, they did kick some fin. Halibut, coho, king...you name it, they caught it - Just not as many as they expected to.

Just in time for us to be working too much to even THINK about fishing, Ma sends us the dagger...

Good on ya, Ma. That one puts you in the rarefied air of the 50+ club, something that we needed a gillnet to get into.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Thank dog we only work a few months out of the year, otherwise things would be a little different around here. As it is, work is ok because there is a time that it ends, every year. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but it always ends.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Had a hell of a time figuring out if this got filed under "Things that make us go Hmmm" or "Breakfast of Champions". It does make us go Hmmm, but in a contented sort of fashion, and it is so much more than mere breakfast.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you White Folks' answer to Muktuk...the Nanaimo Bar.

A 2" x 2" x 1/4" square of Coconut and graham crackers held together with butter, upon which is lavishly spread a fat quarter inch of buttercream, topped by chocolate...with butter in it. Probably close to 800 calories, most likely 250% of your daily fat intake (most of it unsaturated), sort of like gluing 5 pounds of fat to your ass every time you eat one...If there is a Fat Hell, this is the sign for the express lanes.

But DAMN, they're good. The bonus is, eat one and you don't need to eat again for damn near 8 hours. Get a tall extra-shot Breve in with that, you got close to 1700 calories and all the caffeine a fella could want.

Nothin' against muktuk, but we're gonna stick with these. A little easier to explain to the neighbors, you understand.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

While we were slaving away in the room of despair all last week, the Wife was deep in the Dirty Souf, gettin' in touch with her Inner Redneck. Armed with an airboat, a half-rack of Miller Lite and a few seedy relatives, she went to get her noodle on.

The Rig.After toolin' around in this bad larry, the wife has declared that our RedNeck Ride just isn't redneck enough, and we need one of these. What for, we'll never know, but if we remember correctly, they're fun as hell. Maybe we could noodle for moose...

They may be loud and they may be redneck, but you gotta respect anything that runs in the mere suggestion of water.

Apparently, no one here is concerned about what else may be living in that hole.

With Uncle K kibitzing, the wife makes her move.

Result.

Bro-in-law, gettin it done.

Big 'un.

Fixin' to get et, directly.

Done got et.

Except for sticking your hands in a dark hole looking to get bit, the whole noodlin' thing looks like fun. Probably wouldn't work for steelhead, but mebbe we'll give it a try next spring.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

It's officially bead season...sorry, D. We know you are probably being resolute about this whole "no bead" thing you and the boys got goin', but...We just don't have that kind of time to play around on the creek. This summer thingy only lasts a few weeks here in the rainforest, so we take advantage wherever we find it.

Got a reprieve from slave labor yesterday, so we decided to use our time wisely. We picked up a sixpack of tallboys and headed on down to the farm to see if the dollies were in yet.

The Narwhal is in town on a "working vacation" from Los Anchorage, so we punched him up on the mobby and gave him directions to the farm. A quick switch of business attires and we were ready for the day...

...Except that we brought the flybox, not the beadbox. There were a few fish to be had on the darts, and one on a slider, but something seemed...off. We retreated to the safety of the parking lot and more beer, and there we dug through the Narwhal's stuff until we found the bead we were looking for - round, egg-colored, sorta small.

In case you haven't experienced it, early bead season fish are not that picky. We bet you could probably paint a bowling ball with Revlon 162, add a dash of nude, and roll it down the creek during early bead and you would still get a few takers. It's nice to fish for aggressive fish when the senses are rusty from a winter of misuse, lets a fella get the machine all tuned up and dialed in.

At any rate, we beaded up a few from the tideline before the Narwhal had to go back to work. After he left, we hit the midstretch and found a whole pile of staged fish keyed in on a few lonely chums. The fish were in a good mood, and soon we were slipping over the edge into summer, finally.

We stayed about an hour and a half more than we wanted to, but bead season dollies make us do dumb stuff like that. Upon arrival at the Neil Creek estate, we made all the necessary preparations - 2 dozen new bead rigs, pack up the bead bag, teach the dog how to use the can opener, give the neighbors $50 to look after the place...

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Commandeered the G-skiff the other day,with the express purpose of getting to the booty without getting the RedNeck Ride all wet and dirty. Just about the end of kings, so we decided that a few more fish were needed to make the masses happy. Gotta make sure the larder is stocked, right? We look out for our own...fellow pirates never go hungry during king season.

Excuses #325, #14, and #231 came into play, but even with the bright sun we still managed to catch shallow fish. The G got a little excited in the thick of battle and decided to go full-on pirate on his last king, foregoing a kill-rope and bleeding it right there on the deck.

Oh well...his boat, his booty, his rules of plunder.

Pretty much over the kings for the year. The humpies have shown up which makes it officially July, and you know what that means, kids...